Troy Tulowitzki trade talk is heating up, and it’s only going to get hotter.

When Tulo arrives in Minneapolis for the All-Star Game a week from Monday, the national media will be waiting. The New York contingent, in particular, will be salivating over the possibility of Tulo replacing Derek Jeter as the Yankees’ shortstop in 2015.

Tulo will say the right things. He will try to deflect all of the speculation, but it’s not going to go away.

Tulo would be happy to work on his craft and continue his push for the National League MVP, if only the Rockies were winning and if they were true contenders. But they aren’t, and they don’t look to be anytime soon — and that alone will likely deny Tulo any chance to win the MVP this year.

So the future has become part of Tulo’s present.

Understand, Tulo is not demanding a trade. He has not marched up to owner Dick Monfort’s office and asked to get out of Denver. Not yet.

And Monfort has no plans to deal either Tulo or Carlos Gonzalez. Yet.

Monfort said after last season: “The plan is to keep them. Next year, yes. Is that the smartest thing in the world to do? I don’t know. But for our fans, I think it’s the best thing to do.”

But another losing season has changed the landscape. Tulo, at age 29, has shown that he’s healthy although he sat out Friday and Saturday with groin tightness and leg injuries will always be a concern with his injury history. He is at the peak of his trade value. Now or never is drawing nearer if the Rockies are going to move him. His value might never be higher.

Tulo doesn’t come across as warm and cuddly, but he has told me countless times that he loves the Rockies and their fans and he likes being the face of the franchise. But more than anything, he wants to win. And he wants to be surrounded by players who want to win as passionately as he does.

“In Todd Helton, there’s someone who’s easy to look at his career here and how it played out. I have the utmost respect for Todd, but at the same time, I don’t want to be the next in line as somebody who was here for a long time and didn’t have a chance to win every single year,” Tulowitzki told Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla on Thursday. “He played in a couple postseason games and went to one World Series. But that’s not me. I want to be somewhere where there’s a chance to be in the playoffs every single year.”

But wishing for a trade, or speculating about one, is a lot easier than actually pulling off a deal. And keep in mind that Tulo can veto any trade, so he’s not going to end up in someplace like Houston or San Diego.

Tulo carries a big contract, so that’s a huge factor. The Rockies’ star shortstop will be due $118 million after this season on a deal that runs through 2020, with a club option for 2021. There are only a few, select teams that would be willing to carry that load.

The Yankees might, but the Rockies are going to demand a lot of prospects in return, and the Yankees farm system is not loaded with talent.

Tulo would look best in Cardinals red. Indeed, St. Louis and Colorado talked about a deal last winter that included pitcher Shelby Miller, first baseman Matt Adams and a prospect coming to Colorado.

Early this season, Fox Sports’s Ken Rosenthal pitched the following idea: Tulo to the Cardinals for first baseman/outfielder Allen Craig, right-handers Shelby Miller and Trevor Rosenthal and a fourth, lesser prospect, with the Rockies paying some of Tulowitzki’s remaining contact. That deal is a real longshot, but talent-rich St. Louis remains the most viable trade partner. And the Cardinals are in contention every year.

Do I think Tulo is going to be dealt? Not this summer, I don’t, but it wouldn’t shock me to see him traded over the winter. I would hate to see him go, because I love watching him play. But a fresh start would do Tulo good.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyreek Hill didn’t know what to do when he started hearing thousands of people in Arrowhead Stadium chanting his name, even as he stood all alone on the frozen turf waiting for the punt.